Shi Yu walked inside the boundary line and stood alongside the other Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Her movement caught the attention of the nearby cultivators. He Chiqiong and his group, in particular, stared with open mouths, exchanging bewildered glances.
Her mouth slightly agape, He Lingling could hardly believe her eyes. She hastily tugged on He Chiqiong’s sleeve and asked, “Brother, Sister Ah Yu... she’s a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”
He Chiqiong was equally astonished. He shook his head. “Seeing that Miss Shi appeared to be around our age, I always assumed she was still in the Qi Refining Realm too.”
Su Luoyao snorted coldly, a hint of surprise and disdain flashing in her eyes. “How could an ordinary rogue cultivator achieve Foundation Establishment so easily? She probably used some trick to conceal her cultivation, hoping to win Instructor Jiang’s favor. Too bad Instructor Jiang is a Golden Core expert—he won't be fooled so easily.”
Hearing this, He Lingling glared at her in displeasure. “Do you think Sister Ah Yu is stupid enough to try deceiving a Golden Core True Lord? Since Sister Ah Yu dared to step forward, she must truly possess that cultivation level.”
Su Luoyao knew deep down that her own claim was unlikely, yet she stubbornly insisted, “There’s no telling.”
She then added with earnest gravity, “Lingling, she’s only nice to you because she wants to use your status to get close to the He Clan. Don’t let her fool you. Who knows what wicked scheme she's harboring in her mind?”
He Lingling was so angry she wanted to retort, but He Chiqiong stopped her. Frowning, he looked at Su Luoyao. “A'Yao, refrain from wild speculation. Miss Shi has traveled with us for so long, and we haven't seen anything amiss with her. Speak no more of this.”
Seeing his unusually stern expression, Su Luoyao pursed her lips and reluctantly fell silent.
Only then did He Chiqiong avert his gaze and look back toward Shi Yu.
Within the boundary, Foundation Establishment cultivators emerged from the crowd one after another and took their places. Altogether, however, there were only a few dozen. A few among them were clearly advanced in age, having obviously attained their stage only after long years of arduous cultivation.
Standing among them, Shi Yu indeed appeared remarkably young.
Cultivators rarely showed their age. Wealthy disciples from prominent clans often carried a Youth-Preserving Pill or two, making it even harder to judge age by appearance alone; one had to test their bone age to know for sure. When He Chiqiong had previously said Shi Yu was around their age, he had merely noted the youthful innocence lingering in her features without giving it deeper thought.
Yet looking back now, aside from that subtle youthful aura between her brows, Miss Shi did seem to possess a remarkably clear and tranquil mind during their journey together... Reflecting on this, He Chiqiong couldn't help but guess that Shi Yu might have taken a Youth-Preserving Pill as well and was actually decades older than them.
Regardless of what the onlookers were thinking, after waiting a moment until no one else stepped forward, Jiang Tingchuan spoke calmly, “Form a single line and step forward one by one. I shall measure your bone age.”
The crowd complied, taking turns stepping up. Instructor Jiang released a trace of spiritual Qi, instantly declaring each person's bone age.
“Bone age forty-six. Fairly decent.”
The cultivator praised so casually could barely hide his excitement and bowed deeply. “Thank you, Instructor!”
“Bone age sixty. Passing the assessment will be somewhat difficult for you; we must evaluate the quality of your Dao Platform before saying more.”
The cultivator singled out showed a tinge of dismay in his eyes, but he still bowed respectfully before stepping aside.
...
Gradually, it was Shi Yu's turn. She walked up, stood before Jiang Tingchuan, and bowed politely. With an indifferent demeanor, two of Jiang Tingchuan's fingers emitted a strand of yellowish spiritual Qi that coiled around Shi Yu's wrist. At the same time, his brows twitched slightly, as if surprised.
Unlike with the others, where the spiritual Qi withdrew the instant it made contact to reveal the bone age, it took unusually long for Shi Yu.
Su Luoyao, who had been watching intently, could not help speaking up. “I knew there was something wrong with her—”
Before she could finish, Instructor Jiang's steady voice resounded, causing her face to freeze instantly:
“Bone age twenty.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the crowd erupted into an uproar, buzzing with non-stop chatter. The eyes of all the cultivators fell upon Shi Yu, filled with shock and disbelief.
“Bone age twenty? She reached Foundation Establishment at just twenty years old?”
“What kind of talent is this? She's a monster!”
“Looking at her, she isn't wearing any family crest either. Could she be the successor of some hidden ancient clan?”
Small wonder they made such guesses; a twenty-year-old Foundation Establishment cultivator was an almost unimaginable existence in their eyes.
Jiang Tingchuan remained calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was thoroughly astonished. He had seen many geniuses, but those who reached Foundation Establishment at such a young age as Shi Yu... were few and far between.
After a brief pause, a faint smile touched Jiang Tingchuan's face as he spoke slowly, “Bone age twenty. Barring any accidents, you are already a member of our Shiyan Academy.”
Anyone could hear the appreciation in his voice, and the surrounding cultivators couldn't help feeling another wave of envy.
Possessing such cultivation at such a young age meant limitless future prospects. Though a few more tests lay ahead, no one felt they would pose any problem for Shi Yu.
Spiritual Meridians? Soul strength? Or something else? With her cultivation level, even in the absolute worst-case scenario, securing a spot at the academy was a foregone conclusion.
“Is this young lady already slated for Heaven Class?”
“Does that even need to be said?! With talent like hers, where else could she belong except Heaven Class?”
“Without a doubt, she must be the most talented applicant in this year's recruitment.”
“Today was truly an eye-opener...”
He Lingling shot a sidelong glance at Su Luoyao and sneered softly, “With Sister Ah Yu's talent, would she really need to go out of her way to 'deliberately approach' us?”
Su Luoyao bit her back molars tightly and remained silent. She had originally assumed Shi Yu knew their identities in advance and used underhanded schemes to get close to them along the way. Never had she imagined Shi Yu possessed such terrifying talent. The realization stuck in Su Luoyao's throat, making her feel thoroughly miserable.
Listening to the excited discussions around her, Shi Yu returned to her original spot, though a hint of uncertainty arose in her heart.
Other things didn't matter much, except...
She looked inward at her dantian. Seeing the colorless Dao Platform emitting a faint, hazy light atop her Yellow Sprout Dao Foundation, she muttered internally, If we need to reveal our Dao Platforms, that's going to be a bit troublesome.
Before achieving Foundation Establishment, she had swallowed a vast quantity of supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, used the Xuexiao Spirit Node to temper her body and soul, and refined her spiritual Qi into perfect harmony, ultimately shedding her mortality to reach Foundation Establishment and open her spirit lake.
Yet the Dao Platform that had grown above her spirit lake was entirely colorless and murky.
The Dao Platform was created during Foundation Establishment through the fundamental rules of heaven and earth, condensed upon the spirit lake. Every Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed one, much like a Golden Core to a Golden Core cultivator.
Foundation Establishment was divided into three paths: Heavenly, Earthly, and Mortal, each further subdivided into nine grades. The quality of one's Foundation Establishment was most intuitively determined by the appearance of their Dao Platform.
With Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, the Dao Platform possessed all five elements, manifesting as a brilliant interplay of five dazzling colors.
With Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, the Dao Platform displayed colors corresponding to the cultivator's spiritual meridian attributes; the higher the grade, the purer and richer the colors.
As for Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment... the lowest tier of Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment produced a colorless, murky Dao Platform, while the higher grades of Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment gradually turned jade-white.
Unluckily, if judged strictly by this standard, Shi Yu's Dao Platform fell precisely into the category of Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment—and the absolute lowest tier at that.
Although she knew in her heart that every step she had taken along her path was done to perfection, making it virtually impossible for her to have merely achieved Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment, how outsiders judged it was beyond her control.
Just as Shi Yu was musing over this, the bone age test for the last person finished. Instructor Jiang looked up and said calmly, “Next, reveal your respective Dao Platforms.”
Guess I really couldn't avoid this after all, Shi Yu muttered to herself, shaking her head inwardly.
Rate on N.U.
